Sealing means for containers



June 2, 1936. J. M. HOTHERSALL.

SEALING MEANS FOR CONTAINERS Filed July 30; 1952 INVENTO I i.

/ ATTO Y Patented June 2, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SEALING MEANS FGR CONTAINERS Application July 30, 1932, Serial No. 626,481

8 Claims. (01. 220-39) The present invention relates to a container and has particular reference to-one having a dispensing part through which its contents may be discharged and one wherein the mere application of a removable closure member reshapes certain parts to form a seal for the container.

The principal object "of the present invention is the provision of a container provided with a sealing section and a closure member also having a sealing section, these sections being caused to conform one with the other by application of the closure member to the container.

An important object of the invention is the provision of a container of the character described wherein there is provided a difference in relative hardness between certain sealing surfaces of a contain-er and its closure member so that the harder surfaces will change the contour or shape of the softer surfaces when the closure member is applied to the container.

Another important object of the invention is the provision of a container having straight walled seal-ing and straight walled threaded surfaces, and a closure member having tapered walled sealing and tapered threaded surfaces, these sealing and threaded surfaces being caused to conform one with the other under a reshaping action effected by an application of the closure member to the container.

Numerous other objects of the invention will be apparent as it is better understood from the following description, which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the 'drawing:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of a container 'dispensing part and its closure member embodying the present invention, the container and closure members being shown in separated position, as before assembling; and

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same parts in assembled position.

In the manufacture of a container formed of metal and having a dispensing part such as a nozzle or projecting end, it is a common practice owing to the difficulty of making a metal to metal seal, to interpose a sealing gasket between sealing surfaces of the container and its closure member to offset the usual inherent irregularities between these surfaces and to prevent leakage. Such a gasket is an extra part, its manufacture and assembly in the container adding to the cost and if omitted or lost, there usually results an insufiicient joint which may cause much trouble and loss. The difliculty of maintaining an exactness of shape between the sealing surfaces of container and cover makes it commercially impractical to depend upon their accurate fitting for forming a seal.

The present invention contemplates the formation of an hermetic metal to metal joint *between the sealing surfaces of the container and its closure member without the use of a gasket. To accomplish this desirable end one of the members is provided with a relatively soft metal seal- 1() ing surface or surfaces while the other member has a cooperating relatively harder metal sealing surface or surfaces. A satisfactory container and closure member is provided by making 'one part of lead or a lead alloy and the other part *of pure tin or an alloy of tin. By wayof illustration the drawing discloses a soft lead nozzle and a harder tin cap or closure member.

Both members are provided with screw threads for interengaging one with the other so that as the closure member is assembled with the container and screwed down into place, the relatively harder sealing and/or threaded surfaces engage and reform the softer sealing and/or threaded surfaces compressing and reshaping the latter surface or surfaces to conform to the contour of the harder surface or surfaces. This action completely eliminates the pre-existing space between the two sealing. and threaded surfaces and forms an hermetic tween them.

A container body member, such as a nozzle I l and preferably made of a soft material such as lead, is provided With a cylindrical wall |i2 having, preferably, straight walled screw threads I3 and reduced at its upper end into a cylindrical sealing surface 14. A central discharge aperture 15 extends through the end of the nozzle and communicates with the interior of the container (designated by the numeral l6) and through this aperture the contents of the container may be dispensed.

A closure member is provided for closing the container l l and is preferably made of a relatively harder material, such as pure tin and may take the form of a screw cap 2|. This cap has a cavity 22, the walls of which'terminat'e in a tapered screw thread section 23 which interen'g'ages with the threads l3 of the container II when the cap and container are threadedly locked together. The larger diameter of the screw threads 23 is substantially the same diameter as the straight walled screw threads l3. The cavity 22 of the cap joins with a frusto-conical end re- Goes 25 and the Wall of this recess may be joint or seal be- 30 formed as a tapered sealing surface 26. The larger diameter of this recess is substantially the same diameter as the cylindrical sealing wall M of the container. The cap 2| may be slightly enlarged as at 3| to provide a finger-hold in screwing the cap tightly on the threads of the container and its exterior surface may be knurled if desired. r r

In closing the container with its cap 2|, the threads I3, 23 are interengaged and rotation between container and cap telescope the parts longitudinally so that the cylindrical surface I4 moves into the frusto-conical recess 25 and engages and flows along the tapered wall 26. At the same time the upper portion of the straight thread is squeezed into the dimensioning confines of the upper and smaller section of the tapered threads 23.

These relatively hard tapered sealing and threaded surfaces 26, 23 compress the softer engaged sealing and threaded surfaces I4, l3 and reshape or reform the end of the nozzle and the threads so that closely fitting conformity is established between the engaged surfaces. This provides an extended metal to metal seal, designated by the numeral 33 (Fig. 2), the result of such a sealing operation completely filling all pre-existing spaces between the two sealing and threaded surfaces. This produces an excellent hermetic joint, which is very desirable for containers of the general nature here considered. Having both reformable parts l3, M as herein illustrated, a double protection is obtained but for many purposes the reforming and sealing action upon either of the threads or the flatter surfaces will be found to be suflicient.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction'and arrangement of the parts, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. In a container, an outlet part and a cap part having threaded engagement therewith, one of said parts being of softer metal than the other and having a non-threaded wedging surface adapted to be drawn into close engagement with the other of said parts so as to re-form the softer part to bring it into coincidence with the contour of the harder part upon tightening of the threaded engagement, the re-forming surface and the surface to be re-formed being nearly parallel with each other.

2. In a container, a body member and a closure member, one of said members having a cylindrical sealing surface, the other a frusto-conical sealing surface engaged in surface contact with said cylindrical sealing surface by application of the closure member, a said sealing surface having a non-threaded portion adapted to be re-formable to coincide with the contour of said other sealing surface onforcing said sealing surfaces together in the application of said closure member to create an hermetic seal therebetween, the re-forming surface and the surface to be re-formed being nearly parallel with each other.

3. In a container, a body member having a non-threaded straight wall sealing surface associated with its dispensing end, and a closure member for closing said end and having a tapered wall sealing surface, and threaded means associated with each of said members below said sealing surfaces for bringing the latter together into surface contact, said straight wall sealing surface being re-formable into tapered shape during the dispensing end closing action.

4. In a container, a body member and a closure member, one of said members having adjacent straight walled sealing and straight walled threaded surfaces, the other of said members having adjacent tapered wall' sealing and tapered threaded surfaces, rotation between said members operating through said threaded surfaces to force the said sealing surfaces together thereby to re-form a said sealing and a said threaded surface to cause them to closely conform to and contact with the other of said sealing and threaded surfaces, the re-forming surface and the surface to be re-formed being nearly parallel with each other.

5. In a container, a body member, and a closure member, one of said members having relatively soft re-formable threaded and non-threaded sealing surfaces of lead, the other having relatively harder threaded and non-threaded sealing surfaces, relative rotation between said members forcibly drawing them together when assembled for sealing purposes and reshaping the said softer re-formable sealing surfaces to conform to and closely contact with the said harder sealing surfaces, said sealing surfaces of said members being nearly parallel before they are drawn together.

6. In a container, a body member, and a closure member, said body member having a straight walled threaded surface of lead, said closure member having a tapered threaded surface of harder metal, said surfaces providing interengagement one with the other, relative rotation between said members forcing the straight and tapered threaded surfaces together to cause them to closely conform to one another in the same contour to produce an hermetic seal.

7. A container having a nozzle of relatively soft metal, said nozzle having a cylindrical part formed with external screw threads, and a cap of relatively hard metal formed therein with a tapered portion having screw threads adapted to screw upon the threads of the nozzle part, whereby the threads of the nozzle are caused to conform with the threads of the cap when the latter is screwed upon the nozzle, to produce an hermetic sealing of the container.

8. A container, comprising a body member of relatively soft metal having adjacent non-threaded straight walled sealing and threaded straight walled surfaces, and a closure member of relatively hard metal having a tapered wall sealing surface and tapered threads adjacent thereto, the engagement of the threaded sections of said members forcing the said sealing surfaces together to deform the softer of said sealing surfaces to cause the same to closely conform to and contact with the harder of said sealing surfaces to form an hermetic closure.

JOHN M. HOTHERSALL. 

